Friday, January 13, 2012

Question: Where was Michael 'CCMA'?

"Hi, Simone. What do you think of Michael's not attending Critics Choice Awards? Lots of fans on tumblr are curious and a bit worried about this situation. Someone allegedly working in a screener dist. company even seems to start a rumor again about Fox Searchlight not really supporting Shame in awards race and Shame team&McQueen being pissed off. (Something that we've heard before. Personally, I don't really buy it. McQueen cares that much about awards?) Anyway, I thought it would be nice of him to show up at the ceremony because critics had shown their appreciation of his great performance in Shame by giving Michael several critics awards wins. Well, there must have been a proper reason that he miss the occasion for. I just want to know your opinion.

p.s I always appreciate your great work and efforts in this wonderful blog. Especially, I love to read your insightful writings."

January 13, 2012 1:05 AM

Hello! A lot of people (esp. the majority of tumblr Fassinators) really aren't familiar with the awards season musical chair tactic of who shows up at which awards event. Not all nominees are available or interested in attending every ceremony, that is the norm. I have long suspected, however, that some nominees are given a 'wink' in advance to guarantee their attendance, and said wink informs the celebrity that of the five nominees, he or the other guy will be the winner. And looky who showed up last night, the two A-listers: Georgie and Bradley. Michael is extremely busy promoting Shame and doing interviews, as well as taking care of other business for his possible next project(s). So with that said, he cannot attend every event, especially if the odds are not in his favor. I believe that Fox Searchlight is doing a great job in promoting Shame and Michael Fassbender. I have been in contact with someone in the marketing department about advertising here at FF and I was told that the budget is very, very tight at the moment, however, if Michael is nominated for an Oscar, they will review advertising options with Fassinating Fassbender.

So their hearts are in the right place of course, they just don't have a lot of money. But with that said, since I visit websites that are awards oriented, I know for a fact that Searchlight is doing a lot of advertising for Michael at a lot of these very websites. I don't have any comment about the Shame screener rumor situation, I just know that the screeners went out in mid-December and again, Searchlight is putting all the stops on promoting this film and Michael - they believe in him. Sure, they also are promoting George's movie, but the reality of the situation is that George is a much beloved, respected, veteran A-list Hollywood star in a film that is doing very well, and he is receiving kudos for apparently achieving a career high performance. He doesn't need to be marketed as much as Michael does, because everyone already knows George, but, that shouldn't mean that Fox Searchlight isn't putting a lot of time and money into FYC advertising for George. It's a delicate situation, and I know some Michael fans may be concerned, but from where I sit, I see a nice support for Michael, considering who his studio is also supporting.

With this all being said, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards... whatever, just one of many events, and not that big an apple for us to be concerned about. Michael will be at the Golden Globes Sunday night, and he'll be at London Critics awards late next week, and if he's nominated for an Oscar, he'll definitely be there. It may seem that George is winning a lot, but Michael is too, and I'm 99% confident he'll be nominated. I refuse to believe that George will win his second Oscar... his performance, however "great" it was, does not overshadow, for the OSCAR, the accomplishments of at least five other actors, including one who will be receiving a possible third nomination, and currently Oscar-less. Don't fret over Michael not showing up last night, it's all good, he can't and won't win every award he's nominated for, and that just makes for an even more exciting nail-biter on Oscar night. Thanks for your question, and I appreciate you coming here for my opinion. :-)

15 comments:

Some people think that comedienne's joke about Michael was scripted and she was supposed to look at him in the audience, but they tried to work Pitt in as a substitute at the last minute. If true, it sounds like he was planning to go but something came up.

Simone, thank you so much for answering my question so kindly. I wanted to know what you thought of this because I don't know much about award things-just as you said- but you do. I don't buy the Shame screender rumor. However, I've seen it repeatedly emerging on Tumblr, which I find really, really annoying. Your writing gave me a relief and thank you once again. BTW, LAFCA holds their awards gala this evening, right? I wonder if Michael will show up or miss this, too.

You're very welcome anon! I like being asked these questions, and I just answer them to the best of my knowledge.

I have a love/hate thing with tumblr, it's a great service, but it can be very annoying based on the shenanigans that occur there. But the great majority of fans there mean well. However, it's a cesspool of unsubstantiated rumormongering that only serves to spread silly gossip.

Since Michael won the BEST Actor for LAFCA, he wills surely be there! Get your popcorn ready and get ready to tumblr tonight cuz he's going to be looking Gorg!

I HOPE Michael attends the LAFCA gala since he actually won that one. It would look much worse if he didn't show up to that, IMHO.

For those who are wondering, Fox Searchlight sent the Shame screeners to AMPAS voters via UPS on December 23rd. I can find no information on when they sent out screeners to SAG voters, but rumor has it that it was late.

As for reaction to Gosling not being there, he's been in the industry limelight for longer than Michael, so it doesn't seem like he "needed" to be there as much. At this point in the game, a newcomer like Michael should attend as many of these events as possible, for political reasons. It's a simply a reality of the industry.

Relax anon, you seem too concerned and upset about Michael's absence. For one thing, there are other events that Michael is obligated to attend, like the LAFCA's tonight in LA (Jan. 13th)

And quite possibly this cool event:British Academy of Film and Television Arts18th Annual Awards Season Tea Party. (invitation only) Saturday, Jan 14th at the Four Seasons Hotel.

And then the Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan 15th!

That's three events where Michael will in all likelihood be planning to attend- on three different days. So what he missed the CCMAs last night, he needs and deserves a break from all this, esp considering what's in store for him starting this evening, picking up his award for Best Actor.

Thanks for clearing this up! I was definitely wondering about his absence last night, and assumed that he was just too busy to attend. I definitely have faith that he can pull a win this season, and I will be very proud when he does :)

i didn't read the whole post, but laineygossip said the same thing about the money situation and fassbender. clooney has the money, fassbender just doesn't at this point. awards are sadly a lot more than just about quality of performance movie... it's about politics, economics, more politics, more economics and hard campaigning.

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